Summary:

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched an estimated 30 to 40 ballistic missiles from around twelve bases at United States military facilities in Jordan overnight on 8–9 September, in what open-source monitors called the Guard’s largest single salvo since April. The missiles targeted US infrastructure in Aqaba, Muwaffaq Salti Air Base at Azraq and Prince Hassan Air Base. The IRGC released launch footage and claimed heavy damage to fighter-jet shelters and maintenance hangars; those claims are unverified. The Jordan Armed Forces said air defences engaged 20 ballistic missiles fired toward the kingdom, intercepted 18, and that two fell in unpopulated areas, with no casualties. US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not published a matching tally or a damage assessment for US facilities.

The salvo followed two US operations, on 5 and 8 September, that disabled or destroyed eight IRGC crude oil carriers after Iranian ballistic missiles were fired at US Navy warships. CENTCOM said every attempt against those ships failed and that no American personnel were harmed at sea. Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have both stated the same rule: if Iran shoots at US ships, the United States will destroy IRGC oil tankers.

Brent crude traded near $98 on 8 September and briefly approached $100 as reports of explosions near Kharg Island circulated.

 

Detailed Report

1. IRGC Salvo at Jordan: Scale, Targets and Claims

The IRGC Aerospace Force launched the missiles during the night of 8–9 September at US infrastructure in the city of Aqaba, at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and at Prince Hassan Air Base. Open-source monitors, including the mapping account AMK Mapping, which has tracked previous Jordan-directed salvos, put the wave at 30 to 40 ballistic missiles fired from around twelve sites inside Iran and described it as the Guard’s largest single strike since April. Some of the warheads were assessed or claimed to be cluster munitions — a characterisation carried by mapping accounts and IRGC media, not by any US or Jordanian source.

The IRGC released night-sky footage of dozens of launches less than an hour after the attack, with further launch videos circulating on social media. In a follow-on statement, the Guard said it had used a mix of solid- and liquid-fuel missiles against maintenance hangars and shelters for F-16, F-15 and F-35 aircraft, and that the damage was heavy. None of those targeting or damage claims has been independently confirmed.

 

2. Jordan Armed Forces Report 18 of 20 Missiles Intercepted

The Jordan Armed Forces spokesperson, in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency (Petra) on 9 September, said the kingdom had come under a missile attack from Iranian territory over the past few hours. Jordanian air defences engaged 20 ballistic missiles fired toward Jordanian territory and intercepted 18. Two missiles fell in unpopulated areas. Field assessments recorded no casualties. Specialised teams were sent to secure sites where debris and shrapnel had fallen. The statement did not name Aqaba, Muwaffaq Salti or Prince Hassan and did not address the Guard’s claim of heavy damage to fighter shelters.

That host-nation count and the monitor figure of 30 to 40 launches are not the same measurement. JAF is counting missiles engaged toward Jordanian territory. The mapping accounts are counting launches from Iran. CENTCOM has not issued a matching intercept or damage figure for US facilities.

Mapping accounts estimated that US forces launched close to 100 Patriot PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors against the wave — a figure CENTCOM has not confirmed and that should be treated as unverified. The same monitors assessed that several missile impacts were recorded at or near the targeted facilities. Open reporting in August had already put more than 1,500 Patriot interceptors expended in the war, with the remaining stock under 1,700. CENTCOM’s separate formulation — that “all IRGC attempts against U.S. Navy warships have failed” — applies to the naval engagements. It does not speak to the Jordan bases.

 

3. CENTCOM Disables Two IRGC Tankers and Destroys a Third After Missiles at Warships

The tanker campaign was triggered on 5 September, when the IRGC fired ballistic missiles at two US Navy warships on patrol — an aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer. In a public release the same day, CENTCOM said both ships “successfully evaded multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” and that no American personnel were harmed. The Guard later claimed damage to US vessels; no independent imagery has confirmed a hull hit. The carrier was not named by CENTCOM, though open reporting through this phase of the war has repeatedly shown the USS George Washington operating in regional waters.

In response, CENTCOM permanently disabled the M/T Downy off Kharg Island and the M/T Stark 1 near Jask, and completely destroyed the unladen M/T Kylo — also reported as the Noxen — in the Gulf of Oman after its crew was directed to abandon ship. The command described the three hulls as part of a “multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies,” adding that “Iran has no means by which to defend them.”

Admiral Cooper set out the exchange rate directly:

“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours. We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

Secretary Hegseth put the same rule in a post on X the same day:

“It’s simple: if Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot at @USNavy.”

He added that Iran’s tanker fleet was defenceless and could be struck in either the CENTCOM or the Indo-Pacific area.

 

4. Second Warship Targeted; Five More Tankers Destroyed

A second Iranian missile attack on a US Navy warship took place on 7 September but was not acknowledged by the US military at the time. The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, first reported the undisclosed shot, noting official concern that Iran was using more sophisticated missiles and might be receiving tracking or technical assistance from China or Russia — an allegation that remains unconfirmed. CENTCOM’s 8 September release folded the event into a single line, saying the IRGC had “targeted a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice over the past two days.” That ship also evaded the attempts, and no personnel were harmed.

In response, CENTCOM destroyed five more IRGC crude carriers: the M/T Kaviz, M/T Charminar, M/T Horizon 1 and M/T Riesco in the Gulf of Oman, and the M/T Derya near Kharg Island. Crews were directed to abandon ship before the vessels were struck. Open shipping records identify the Kharg hull as the Derya, also rendered Darya — IMO 9569700, an Iranian-flag very large crude carrier of roughly 319,000 deadweight tonnes, associated with the National Iranian Tanker Company. The two operations brought the total to eight IRGC crude carriers disabled or destroyed in five days. Brent crude, which had traded through the high $97s, briefly approached $100 on the Kharg strike reports before settling near $98, with desks pricing a risk premium on further hits to the shadow fleet and residual routing risk in the Strait of Hormuz.

5. IRGC Warns Tanker Crews at Bahrain and Kuwait Ports

Following the 8 September strikes, the IRGC Navy told crews of oil tankers berthed near Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports to abandon their vessels, saying those ships “will be targeted,” and accused Kuwait and Bahrain of hosting US forces and assisting the attacks. Iran’s political line, carried by IRGC and state media, casts the US tanker strikes as aggression and its own missile fire as legitimate retaliation; Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and other senior officials have warned that strikes on Iranian assets will be answered in kind. Mapping accounts tracking the Jordan salvo warned that Iran might, in the following hours, launch drones or missiles at US bases in Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

 

Conclusion

In five days the exchange has cost the IRGC eight crude carriers at sea, disabled or destroyed, and drawn what monitors called its largest ballistic-missile salvo since April against US bases in Jordan. The United States has answered shots at its warships by striking those tankers.

No US personnel were harmed in the naval attempts. Jordan said 18 of 20 missiles fired toward its territory were intercepted, two fell in unpopulated areas, and no casualties were recorded. Whether any US hangar or aircraft was hit has not been established by CENTCOM or by the host-nation statement. The IRGC’s warning to tanker crews in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports leaves the immediate risk pointed at Gulf shipping and the smaller US host states.